Oregon Gay Couple's Pink Poodle Allegedly Provokes Stranger's Wrench Attack

KPTV - FOX 12

A gay Oregon man was allegedly struck in the head with what's been described as wrench or other "bolt-cutting tool" by a passerby angered by the sight of his dog's dyed-pink fur.

The Oregonian reports that 26-year-old David Beltier was walking his poodle alongside boyfriend Jeremy Mark when the suspect, who has since been identified as 22-year-old George Mason, Jr. pulled over in an SUV.

"He was saying, "Your poodle is a weird color and that's just un-American" and "f**k you, you fags" and shouting," Mark says Mason yelled at the pair, according to the New York Daily News.

Mason is then charged with hitting Beltier once in the shoulder, and then behind his left ear, with a wrench. Beltier did not require medical attention, the Associated Press reports.

"Honestly I'm devastated by it," Beltier told KVTB. "He could've gone more at it and killed me on that sidewalk."

Added Mark: "I'm just thankful he didn't have a more serious weapon like a gun and pull it out,"

Mason, who is reportedly homeless, has since been arrested and is under investigation for second-degree intimidation, second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and reckless driving.

In February, five arrests were made in what was allegedly an anti-gay hate crime in Gresham, Ore.

"I thought I was going to die," 22-year-old Adam Salnardi told KOMO News. "Once I saw the gun, I thought I was going to die."